Nico's Trip to the Orphanage
by goldendelicious
Summary: Nico's been given a quest. It's quite simple really, go to a foster house and try to find potential demigods. But when Nico meets his new foster mom, Mrs. Harold, he knows his quest just got a lot more difficult. The job of bringing demigods back to camp turns into a fullout mission impossible as he struggles to fight the monsters, avoid Mrs. Harold's wraith, and keep the kids safe
1. Chapter 1

A/N So, I started this idea a few years ago on my first account, I finally decieded to edit and improve the story ( it was REALLLY bad) but found out I couldn't remember the password. AT ALL! I spent hours guessing and looking for the paper I wrote it down on, but I couldn't find it, so I decided to completely rewrite the plot and start it over completely on my new account! YAY! So here goes the new and improved NICO'S TRIP TO THE ORPHANAGE!

I trudged up the creaking steps of my new foster families house, trying to ignore every little voice in my head screaming at me for the putting myself in this position. I couldn't help but agree with them. As soon as Mrs. Harold, my new foster mother, had picked me up in her dusty, old Chevy truck I had begun cursing Chiron's name. He just had to send me to the meanest, ugliest, stupidest foster mother in the world. I understood the need for finding new demigods, but couldn't he of atleast sent me to a nice old lady that liked to make apple pie? Anything would be better than this old bat.

" - expected to do chores everyday. You will also have to maintain atleast a B average when the school year begins.", Mrs. Harold rambled on, not even looking at me until I snorted. I had never had a B average in my life. I especially wasn't going to be able to maintain one after the years of school I had missed. Mrs. Harold's pinkish-orange hair whipped into my face as she turned to glare at me. Honestly, she should of just let her hair turn gray if she wasn't going to dye it properly.

" What was that young man?", she snarled, raising her penciled on eyebrow at me. I shook my head.

" Nothing."

" Nothing...", she said, her eyes daring me to mess up. I twitched and cocked my head.

"Nothing... ?", I asked. She nodded and began shuffling through her monster of a purse for the key. She began another lengthy speach about " the proper respect she and her husband deserve".

I glanced around, taking in the huge, but un-cared for, house spanning in front of me. The windows were covered with ratty curtains, the roof had loose shingles I could see from here. They had to be about to fall off. There were a few rusty metal guard rails covering the outside of the window, chillingly reminding me of prison bars. My thoughts came to a sudden halt as a sharp painted nail jabbed under my chin, forcing my eyes to meet the angry brown pools in front of me.

" I expect you to pay attention from now on.", Mrs. Harold growled quietly, poking her finger harder into my neck at the end of the sentence. I winced slightly. Those nails could be used as a frickin weapon.

"Ok.", I answered quickly, hoping she'd take her gods-foresaken finger out of my jugular. Her eyes twitched angrily and she stared at me excpectantly.

" Ok Mrs. Harold." I uttered. She stared at me a second longer before freeing me from her finger and banging open the door. She walked in and I followed her, readjusting my backpack strap. She walked to a closet around the corner and came back, thrusting a stained blanket and lumpy pillow into my hands. I tried not breathe through my nose because of the smell wafting from the blanket. I was assuming one of the other kids was a bed-wetter.

" Up the stairs on the left, three doors down, is the boys room. Right next to it is the girls. The bathroom is the first door on the right. All of the other rooms are off-limits unless my husband or I give you specific permission to do so. You better go to bed now, you have a lot of chores tomorrow", she crowed. I took off up the stairs, causing the wood to moan and groan until I reached the top of the winding staircase. I could literally feel 's glare burning into my back. I resisted the sudden urge to stick out my tounge and turned to the left.

I stopped at the third door and examined the drawings hanging from the door next to it. There looked to be a unicorn ( Or was that a dragon?) with a flower choking it and a shark eating a monster fly thing. These were some very creative children. I tore my gaze away, completely disturbed, and tried to open the door as quietly as possible. But like everything else in this house, the wood creaked and groaned.

Surprisingly, I didn't see any sign that I had woken anyone. The room remained peacefully quiet, with two forms laying across the lone twin matress in the room. I tiptoed to the closet, naturally wanting to be in the darkest place, and placed my backpack into it, not wanting the Harold's to look through it. Explaining the drachmas and the wad of cash would not be pleasent. I grabbed my earphones, smiling at the familiar feeling of it in my hands. All it took was for me to swing the headphones in a circle twice for it to become a wicked Stygatoryain iron blade. I normally had my sword in its natural form, but having a sword hanging from my waist was not acceptable in the modern world.

I pushed the headphones back into my pocket, shoving them around the Ipod Percy had gotten me last year. Well, I guess I should say Mrs. Sally got the Ipod for Percy to give to me. She always made sure to get me something for Christmas. It made me feel kind of weird, but I couldn't deny the warm feeling that flooded through my gut whenever she gave me a gift, or hugged me whenever Percy and I showed up battered and bruised at her door.

I grinned a bit at the memories and laid my head on the lumpy pillow, tossing the blanket as far away from me as possible. With my happy memories of my days at the Jackson's place, I fell into the welcoming shadows of my mind.

xXxxXx

My senses came to life as sticky flesh fell across me. My hands flew to my headphones, but was stopped as my adversary screamed bloody murder. I blinked as a little boy with dark chocolate colored hair scrambled away from me, his arms up as if to protect his face. I stared dumbfounded as the remaining figure on the bed jolted awake, eyes flashing in the dark.

The door banged open and Mrs. Harold stormed in, her horrid hair piled into curlers. She glared at the youngest boy furiously, the power from her glare making me wish I was in the Underworld right now, facing the wraith of Hades. Atleast he weakened from the force of my puppydog eyes.

" WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!", she roared, pacing ragefully. The little boy mumbled and stuttered a reply so badly, I couldn't even decipher a word of it.

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

By now the kid on the bed had moved behind the trembling boy, his hands laying on his shoulders comfortingly.

" I think that he, - uh got startled Mrs. Har-"

" I WASN"T TALKING TO YOU PETER!"

The older boy, Peter, snapped his mouth shut looked at the other boy excpectantly, trying to ease him into answering. I shuffled farther into the corner, wanting to get away from this fiasco.

" I-I wanted a d-drink. But I t-tripped an-"

" SO YOU SCREAMED LIKE A GIRL!", Mrs. Harold snarled, not even letting the poor boy finish his sentence." YOU WERE SO INCONSIDERATE THAT YOU DECIEDED TO WAKE UP THE WHOLE HOUSE?"

I tried not to roll my eyes at the last statement. Said the lady who still hasn't stopped screeching her lungs out. I looked at the petrified boy with pity. The poor thing had to put up with that all the time.

" NO BREAKFAST FOR A WHOLE MONTH!", she finished with a flourish. I gaped at her for a second. Who uses _food_ as a punishment? My hero senses kicked in and I placed myself between Mrs. Harold and the kids.

" Woah, woah, woah. This is all just a misunderstanding," I said, trying to be respectful. "The kid just fell on me and freaked out."

She turned slowly, her mouth jerking into a frown that showed off all of her wrinkles.

" This was your fault?", she said, venom dripping into the words.

" Well, I wouldn't say it was _my_ fault. It wa-"

"You can have his punishment then.", Mrs. Harold snarled quietly. I stared at her in shock as she slammed the door shut. Peter and the kids looked from each other and myself for a few moments before they both slithered into their bed. It took my brain awhile to process, but when I came onto the realization that I wasn't going to get _breakfast_ for an entire _month_, I shuddered _._ I was a teenage boy, and adding the fact that I was a demigod, I needed a lot of food, all the time. I huffed sadly and rolled onto my pillow, my stomach already protesting at the thought of no food.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Thanks for the reviews, percyjacksonsister98,thalia-marie-grace7, Mythomagic-Champion, and Malcolm.

Malcolm: lol thanks! even though you made me feel stupid :D i should of thought of that.

I was once again woken up by flesh falling on me. Only this time it was Peter shaking me awake. I groaned and rolled over, looking out of the lone window in the room. It was still dark outside, the sky a dusky navy. I rolled again to glare at Peter, who smiled apologeticly.

" We have chores.", he said in that quiet-good boy voice. I narrowed my eyes, and took out my Ipod, checking the time. I gasped at what I saw.

" AT 5:30 IN THE MORNING!", I asked incredulously. I don't think I had ever woken up that early before.

"Shush, or you'll wake up Mr. Harold."

I sat in my bedly patch of floor, taking in what I had just been told, while Peter hastily got dressed, occasionally helping the little kid from last night. I really needed to learn his name.I slowly stood up, stretching my sleepy limbs. I took a quick whiff of my shirt and sighed. Not clean enough to wear again. I took it off and began digging through my backpack, looking for a clean shirt. I sensed a quiet hush enter the room and felt eyes staring at me, I turned my head slightly and caught the little kid staring at my back. He caught me looking and quickly looked away, nervous. I peered across my shoulder, seeing if I had anything on my back. I thought maybe I had rolled on a bug or something, but there was nothing there. Just pale skin and my scars. Something in my brain clicked and I looked at the little kid again, who was attempting to tie his shoes. He was probably freaked out because of the scar I got from a Hydra attack. Or the one from the hell hound, the patch of ones from the war, the one from that time I fell out of a tree when Percy landed on me during Capture the Flag. Any one of those scars could very likely of scared the kid.

I quickly tugged on my black t-shirt with the skeleton riding a flaming motorcycle, hiding the scars from view. Peter motioned for me to follow and lead me down the stairs and into the entryway to the kitchen. A list of six names followed by a large amount of chores hung from the wall. I skimmed through the names. _Peter, Alice, Miranda, Zane, Hope, The New Kid..._

I started in indignation. Old bat didn't even know my name.

" So,- uh Zane? Are the chores the same everyday?", I said, decieding that the kids name must of been Zane since the only other unknown names were definetly chick names. He jumped at my voice and looked at Peter nervously, who nodded encouragingly. Zane chewed his lip nervously before answering.

" M-Mrs. Harold changes them everynight."

I cocked my heard to the side, and resisted the urge to yawn. I was not a morning person.

" So I have to cook breakfast, clean the kitchen, vacuum half of the downstairs, and clean the Harold's bathroom?", I said with a raised eyebrow. Mrs. Harold really did not want me in the kitchen. There was more than one reason why I lived off of McDonalds and Taco Bell. I read through the others chores quickly, only having to reread a couple of words.

" Why does Alice get all of the outside jobs?". I whined. Anything outside was better than cooking and cleaning bathrooms.

"She's really good at it. Makes the backyard look really pretty when guests come over.", Peter answered, taking my arm and leading me to the kitchen while Zane ran off to perform his duties. I was still trying to wrap my head around the idea of Mrs. Harold having guests over when a angry blonde girl entered the kitchen.

" Why the hell do you get breakfast duty? That's my job!", she snarled, her pale blue eyes narrowing dangerously. I was quite familiar with the sight of angry blonde girls and decieded to keep my mouth shut, because anything I said could and would of been used against me. Watching Annabeth and Percy fight was a really educational experience.

" He doesn't get to pick what chores he gets Miranda. Just calm down.", Peter said , coming to my rescue.

"I have always had breakfast duty! And I am pretty freaking good at it! You don't get to barge in here and ta-"

"Miranda, if you don't shut up I will tell Mr. Harold that you were the one that broke his bear head.", Peter mumered, his quiet voice penetrating Miranda's angry speach. I stared at Peter in bewilderment. I had thought he was one of those guys that took crap and always made sure to accomodate everyone else first, but there he was practically ordering a girl, who was atleast a year older than him, to shut up.

Miranda flipped her bobbed blonde hair behind her ear, giving me the view of a small angular scar, and glared at Peter, daring him to follow through with the threat. I guess Mr. Harold was one of those creepy old guys that kept those stuffed animal heads around. She huffed angrily and walked past me, making a point of shoving into my shoulder. I stared after her, annoyed with her drama.

" What's eating her?", I asked Peter as he informed me of how my duties worked. They ate eggs and bacon every morning, sometimes having to suffer through grits instead. After that, I had to do the chores in the order she listed and to her impossibly-high standard. I was incredibly screwed.

" She just likes order, no change. Her birth-parents moved around a lot and bad things happened to her when they moved."

" Bad things?", I said, raising my eyebrow as I struggled to get the shell out of the egg I had just cracked. Peter leaned against the broom he was using to sweep the kitchen and looked at me sadly.

" We didn't get taken away from our parents for nothing."

I took time to digest that as I tossed all of the 9 eggs I had cracked into the skillet, and turned on the stove. So these kids had been through a lot too.

" Only Zane and Hope were given away at birth.", Peter said and continuined sweeping the cracked tile. I stared at the eggs, wondering what I was supposed to do now. I grabbed a spatula and shifted the eggs around, the bottom was slightly burned and the gooey parts on top splattered when I flipped the eggs around too fast. I sighed.

" -at about you?"

I snapped my head away from my egg disaster and looked at Peter, feeling kinda bad about not paying attention to him.

" How did you end up in the foster care system...uh, sorry what's your name?"

I grinned briefly and put some bacon strips on another skillet, but the pieces hung over the edge so I just folded them around with the spatula.

" Nico, my names Nico. I was given away at birth too.", I said, using the false story Chiron had come up with for me.

" Oh, well it's nice to meet you Nico."

I gave him a brief grin and turned back to my cooking, slightly nervous because of the violent poppping coming from the bacon. I warily flipped it around causing the boiling bubbles of oil to splash onto my forearm.

" Effing Hades!", I cursed angrily, glaring at the bacon. That was when the eggs started smoking. I quickly scooped them out into a big bowl, trying not to notice how burnt it was. The bacon was curling and twisting around itself. I deemed it done and dumped the whole of the skillets' contents onto a plate. My demigod senses told me I was being watched and I whirled around, meeting Peter's light hazel eyes. He stared at me weirdly and shook his head, going back to his sweeping.

I set 8 plates around the table with a fork beside each. I stuck my bowl of eggs and my bacon in the middle of the table. I started scrubbing up my egg mess when I heard the stairs groan as the weight of two pairs of feet trudged down it. It was amazing what old stairs could tell you. I was soon graced with the sight of Mrs. Harold. I continued scrubbing up my mess, almost burning my hand when I realized I hadn't turned the stove off.

" KIDS! FOOD NOW!", Mrs. Harold screeched suddenly, causing me to jump and drop my rag. I picked it up and returned it to the sink. I took a seat next to Peter, as 4 other kids streamed into the kitchen. Miranda glared at me and my attempted breakfast and took a seat as far away from me as possible. Zane trooped in with a curly haired girl bouncing in after him, Zane sat across from Peter and the curly haired girl sat next to me. She flashed me a quick grin and stuck out her hand.

" I'm Alice." I grinned as dimples flashed across her freckled cheeks. I took her hand and shook it.

" I'm Nico." She wiggled in her seat and flipped her sun-kissed brown hair. The last person to enter was a tiny little black haired girl with ivory skin. She sat down inbetween Miranda and Zane. Mr. Harold quickly scooped out a glob of eggs and glared at it. I felt my ears burn red in embaressment as the others eyeballed my breakfast. I grabbed the spatula and was about to scoop out some eggs for myself when a ruler appeared out of no where and whacked my wrist. I took my hand back, droppping the spatula, and glared at Mrs. Harold who was holding the offending ruler.

" Your punishment?", she reminded, wiggling her newly penciled eyebrows. My stomach rumbled in protest as I remembered. No breakfast. For a really long time. I twitched and placed my hands in my lap, looking at the food wistfully. I fought the urge to yawn and watched in silence as everyone picked around there food. My stomach twisted and turned, demanding that I ate something. I placed a hand over it soothingly, sighing in defeat. I looked at Mrs. Harold pleadingly, but all she did was glare back.

" Maybe next time you'll think twice about disrupting my sleep."

I rolled my eyes, hiding my face behind my overly-long bangs. I felt something oily land in my lap. I resisted the urge to jump around, and looked down. A piece of extra-extra crispy bacon laid in my lap. I looked over at Alice who was smiling for no apperent reason. I thanked the gods silently and slyly snuck the bacon into my pocket.

Breakfast was cut short because of my lack of cooking skills and I had no doubt that Miranda would be back to breakfast duty tomorrow. I decieded she was quite aware of that too, from the smug way she looked at me. I made a face and fought the need to laugh as she huffed like a true diva and turned away.

" Dismissed.", Mr. Harold called roughly. He was the first to eat and the first to finish. The rest of the children simutaneously picked up there plates and put them in the sink. I got up, prepared to continue cleaning the kitchen when Mrs. Harold cleared her throat loudly.

" What's that young man?", she said pointing to my pocket. My stomach rebelled at the thought of giving up my only chance of food for many more hours. I reached into the offending pocket and thanked the gods when I felt my hands curl around the familiar cool metal.

" It's my Ipod...Mrs. Harold." , I said, holding it up for inspection. I shifted my feet, angling my body so the bulge in my pocket appeared less prominent. Mrs. Harold studied it closely with narrowed eyes. She scowled.

" You aren't allowed to use this until your chores are done."

I nodded my head, and quickly put up my Ipod as I turned around to do the dishes. I waited until Mr. and had left to do whatever they did when they weren't ordering around children, and stuffed the piece of bacon into my mouth. It took a few minutes to chew, but my stomach was singing with joy as its' needs were finally met.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Thanks for all of the reviews :D Also, I just thought that I would add that all of the adoption info I am getting is coming from my Mommy who was adopted and whose parents ran a foster home. So some of my info might be out dated :P

I was bone tired by the end of the day. My olive skin was pruned from the hours of wet rags being in contact with my hand. The rest of the kids were tired to, but their bodies seemed to be used to the maid life. As it turns out, our list of chores weren't the only things we were excpected to do, we were excpected to do any little thing that Mr. and Mrs. Harold wished for us to do on a whim. Bring them a glass of tea, fluff their pillow, readjust the fans, I even had to take off Mr. Harold's shoes. I swear to Hades, the guy had more hair on his feet than he did on his head.

I was trailing behind Hope as we trudged up the stairs in a line, like a human train. Alice suddenly disrupted our train, and jogged to the end of the hall and opened the door at the very end of the hall. I raised an eyebrow at Peter.

" She's checking on her garden, she takes care of it after dinner everyday."

A garden? Is that what kids did these days? I shook my head and followed after Alice, the floor creaking under my weight. I quietly opened the door a crack and saw that it opened up into a concrete balcony. All around the metal railings grew every kind of flower, vine, and leaf imaginable. Huge roses hung off of the corners and peach colored flowers rested in little pots made out of plastic containers, old cups, pots, any kind of object that could hold soil. I didn't know a lot about plants but I did know that these plants were too big for the containers they were being held in, and that they were too healthy considering their current enviroment. In the middle of the balcony, unaware of my prescence, sat Alice, jabbering away happily to her plants. She smiled happily and pushed her long golden-brown curls over her shoulder.

" And breakfast was sooooooooooo bad! I couldn't even chew half of it! But the new kid, Nico, looked totally miserble, so I snuck him a piece of bacon! I didn't get caught at all!", she said, continuing on to describe the squirrels that were making a nest in the backyard. A half-smile formed on my lips as she chatted away excitedly. Had I been this talkative when I was her age? Poor Bianca.

" And the neighbors, yeah the really snobby ones, were playing their radio really loud so I heard it in our backyard and the song was soooooo addicting! It went like this!", she continued on, clearing her throat.

" _Hey I just met you, and this is crazy, but heres my number, so call me maybe."_

The grin disapeared off my face and was immediately replaced with a scowl. Absolutely no taste in music. What. So. Ever. I rolled my eyes and softly shut the door, heading back to my bedly patch of floor.

xxxXXXxxx

After being forcefully awoken again, and starting my morning chores on an empty stomach, Mrs. Harold pulled me aside.

" A family is coming in a couple of days to meet you for lunch. Best dressed and best behaviour ,young man, and they just might want to keep you."

I stared in shock, twitching. No way in Hades. Nuh-uh, no way, no how. There was no situation in which I was going to get _adopted_ in the middle of a frickin quest. Gods no. Last thing I needed was a preppy blonde chick acting like she actually gives a rats ass about me.

I walked back to my toliet scrubbing, thinking of ways to make sure these people would never want to see my face again.

xxxXXXxxx

This day was even worse than the day before. I had had to clean out the frickin attic, lugging boxes of mystery items up and down those effing stares, having dust invade my nose and mouth everytime I dared to breathe. And it was so _hot_. My shirt was stained with sweat and I was definitely not going to be able to wear it again tomorrow. My stomach rumbled as I laid down on my lumpy pillow. I was so hungry. Lunch had consisted of those tiny packs of _Pringles _and apple slices while dinner was a piece of ham and some peas. Apperently, there weren't any groceries for any kind of food that would actually fill you up. To say the least, Miranda had yet to amaze me with her cooking skills.

I sighed as my stomach continued to complain. My body wanted some food. Now. Even though I have gone a _lot_ longer with out eating before, my stomach was used to having food every morning. It was just like when you wake up at the same time everyday and then you try to get up earlier or later and your body throws a royal hissy. My stomach was thrown off of its normal calender.

After laying in the dark for half an hour, I made a demigod famous snap decision. My hands searched in the dark until they landed in my backpack, I quickly grabbed my wad of human cash and quietly opened the door.

I padded across the floor, trying to be as light as a feather, as the floor moaned. I tiptoed down the stairs, trying to step on the quieter sections of wood. I made it to the door and turned the knob. The hinges screeched in distress, and I quickly shut the door, trying to end the sound. I jumped off the porch and tore down the street, to the welcoming lights of a convenient store.

I stuffed my hands in my jeans pocket and walked, enjoying the cool breeze blowing through my dark hair. My stomach protested again and I quietly reassured it. Poor thing wasn't used to this torture.

After what seemed like forever, I entered the store. The cashier eyed me suspiciously, light eyes following me. Just because I was a darkly dressed teenager walking into a one-maned store with no adult did not automatically mean I was some gangster thief murderer.

I ignored the cashier and expertly found the candy aisle. My stomach growled in excitement and my eyes happily scanned the candy. The choices.

My stomach yowled again and I grabbed a pack of Sour Punch Straws, Whoppers ,Skittles, and Starbursts. My stomach gave its approvement and I dimly wondered if everybodies stomachs' communicated with them, or if it was just a demigod thing. The cashier watched me closely as I placed my treasures in front of him and reached for my cash. I smirked. He quickly rang me up and I paid him, all the while smirking devilishly. By the time I walked out, the guy had practically wet himself. BEing a son of Hades, I was naturally good at creeping people out.

I opened the bag of Starbursts and popped a lemony yellow one into my mouth. The flavor spread across my tounge and I sighed in happily.

As my hunger was met with relief, my body filled with a different kind of feeling. I dropped the candy and swung my headphones around, transforming it into my sword, just as a monsterous hellhound's fangs sunk into my shoulder. Blood oozed from the wound, and firey pain spread through my arm like someone had shot magma into my bloodstream. I yelled in anger and pain as I swung my sword in a vicious arch towards the beast's head.

The hellhound let me go right before impact. I dropped and rolled out of the way seconds before the hellhound pounced again. I came up quickly and charged. I aimed a blow for its neck and the blade sunk through fur and flesh. The hellhound howled in agony and tried to swing its' head around to rip into into my arm. I dodged out of the way and jumped, my demigod senses kicking in. This is what I was built for.

I pushed my sword downwards and felt it slide through the hellhounds neck as my legs met its coarse black fur. The body slumped onto the ground and turned to dust with me still on top of it.

I tried to catch my breathe as I eximined my wound. Four clear puncture marks riddles around my shoulder with blood slipping from my body at a dizzying speed. I pressed my hand over the wounds, attempting to stop the blood loss. I got up and held my my breath as black spots danced across my vision.

I moved to the house at a slow pace, trying to lessen the pain my movements caused me. I entered the house, barely remembering to softly close the door in my hurry to get to my nectar and ambrosia. I crawled up the stairs after I almost tripped over my own feet. Every little groan sent a shot of fear up my spine. It would not be good to be caught like this. Then I would definetly look like a gangster thief murderer. I opened the boys' bedroom door and yanked open my backpack. I stuffed bits of ambrosia into my mouth waited for its godly effects.

Almost immediately my body seemed to cool from flaming magma to almost a normal temperature. I lifted my hand off of the wound and saw that they had almost closed completely. I sighed in relief and stared at my poor Breaking Benjamin shirt. It was splattered with blood and had holes across the shoulder from the hellhound's fangs. I glanced down and saw that the floor beneath me had a small puddle of blood forming.

I scowled and walked to the cleaning closet, being a _lot _quieter than I had been before. I grabbed bleach and some dark wash rags. My shirt slipped into the bucket as I took it off, and opened the bleach, dumping a fair amount into the bucket, watching as it slowly bleached my shirt to a yellowish-gray. I huffed in satisfaction and began the strenuous job of cleaning my blood from the floor, stairs, and front porch.

I had barely dragged myself to my pillow when Peter woke me up. I groaned in frustration.

I could never have an easy day, could I?


	4. Chapter 4

A/n Thanks for the reviews :D

Malcolm: lol i forgot to answer your questions on the last chapter! Sorry, it was late and my cat wouldn't stop clawing at my feet, so I was very distracted . So to your questions :D lol Im not gonna tell you if Miranda's a daughter of Athena :P that would ruin the suprise! I imagined Peter was staring because Nico said Hades, but I guess it could of been because of the scars too. And I was thinking of giving a bit of backstory for a few. :D glad I fufilled your fanfiction dream by mentioning your name!

I was in the middle of dusting Mr. Harold's disturbing collection of taxidermy when Mrs. Harold swooped upon me like a hawk.

"Shower. The family that is interested in you is coming in a few hours."

I nodded my head, trying to erase the evil grin spreading across my face. I ran up the freshly scrubbed stairs, and dodged into the tiny bathroom. Not suprisingly, it's cheap pink tile was cleanly polished and the tub was gleaming. Hope and Zane had tackled this beast yesterday as one of their chores. I striped and took the chance to examine my shoulder. The wounds were almost completely closed up thanks to the ambrosia and I was on a clear road to recovery.

The water shot out of the shower head quicker than I excpected, and was freezing cold. I quickly turned the hot water up. Naturally I was freezing cold, like a corpse, but that didn't mean I enjoyed being cold. There was a reason I always wore a jacket. Squeezing the strawberry scented shampoo into my palm, I thought of my plan to make sure the family interested in me would reject me. The plan really only consisted of me being a smart aleck, something that came naturally to all teenagers, and making myself as irratating and hair pulling worthy as possible. Percy always said I was good at being annoying.

I finished rinsing out the shampoo and turned off the water, hopping out of the tub and wrapping a thin towel around my waist. I ran a hand through my hair, pushing it out of my face, and was greeted with a whiff of strawberries. I exited the bathroom and was about to open the door to the boys' room when Mrs. Harold appeared at the top of the stairs, took one look at me, and said:

"Another one."

My mouth flew open like a fish, but I turned on my heel and repeated the process of showering, this time making sure to scrub myself down thoroughly. I lef the bathroom again, and came face-to-face with Mrs. Harold. She grabbed my arm and flipped it over, inspecting for dirt. I allowed myself to be poked and prodded for atleast five minutes until she deemed me clean enough.

I spinted to the boys' room, and found a red polo shirt and a pair of light colored jeans. Of course, they were in my size, and I was most likely expected to wear the light colored pieces of hellhounds' crap. I glared at the offending clothing and pulled them on. I went to the kitchen table, and sat uncomfortably because of the glares Miranda was sending my way. She tossed her hair and went back to making ham sandwhichs.

I distantly heard a knock on the door. Mrs. Harold walked down the stairs, wearing proffesional looking clothes, and answered the door with a cheery smile. I mimed gagging at Miranda, who rolled her eyes. No sense of fricking humor.

A couple trudged into the kitchen, their eyes immediatly zooming on me. I stuck out my tounge and looked away defiantly. Mrs. Harold let out a reprimanding hiss, and I turned to look at her with an over-dramatic eye roll. A tiny, microscopic snicker escaped Miranda, but she quickly covered it up with a cough. The female member of the couple looked at me with pitying eyes, while her husband looked unimpressed.

" This is Nico, Mr. and Mrs. Holt. Nico, this is the Holts', they are the family considering adopting you. Why don't you all eat in the living room where it is more private."

Mrs. Holt bobbed her pale blonde head excitedly and followed Mrs. Harold to the living room along with Mr. Holt. I, on the other hand, remained stubbornly seated. Mrs. Holt came back in, looking at me softly. She kneeled down in front of me, so she was making direct eye contact.

" I know this might be hard to accept, but my husband and I are really excited to take you into our family. There isn't a reason for you to be so nervous.", she said, putting her hand on my shoulder in an attempt to be counceling. I shrugged off her hand.

" Oh, I'm nervous alright. Nervous that you might try to plastic me up, like your boobs obviously are.", I sneered, jestering to her quite fake chest. She blushed furiously and pulled her shirt up. Miranda didn't manage to hold in her giggles this time, which I considered a sucess. Mrs. Harold took a calming breath, and stood up, her manicured hands on her hips.

" And that, young man, is exactly why I want to adopt a child like you. I want to make you a better person."

My mind clicked through multiple comebacks, but I settled for something extremely witty, in my humble opinion.

"So your'e going to adopt a poor soul like me and try to make me a better person by being a horrible person?", I questioned saracastically, particullary enjoying watching her struggle to understand the insult. I was tempted to make a dumb blonde joke, but the Athena cabin had taught me all about that stereotype. Mrs. Holt huffed and went back into the living room. I didn't move. Miranda was giving me a confused look.

" Do you ,like, not want to get adopted or something?"

I smirked and crossed my arms.

" No, I actually do not want to get adopted."

Miranda raised her eyebrow and shook her head, looking at me like I had grown another head.

" You don't want to...", she mumbled, not finishing her sentence. I decided it was time to join my wannabe-parents , and swaggered into the living room. Mrs. Harlod's face was flushed with anger , and Mr. and Mrs. Holt were whispering to each other fiercely. I plopped into the only remaining armchair and stuck my feet on the coffee table, earning a animalistic glare from Mrs. Harold. I ignored her and began picking at my teeth with my nails. Mr. Holt gave a pointed look at Mrs. Harold.

" I...I am sorry to say...but I don't think that Nico is the kid for us."

I tried, and failed, to keep the satisfied grin from appearing on my face. Mrs. Harold gave a tense nod, and politely waited for the Holts' to exit before she whirled on me.

" WHAT WAS THAT! THEY DIDN'T EVEN STAY LONG ENOUGH TO HAVE LUNCH WITH YOU!"

I blinked at her innocently. I knew there was nothing I could say to ease her anger, so I suffered through it silently. I spied Hope and Zane scurrying around in the hallway. Zane caught my eyes briefly and looked away shyly, while Hope winced sympathetically. They both disappeared as Mrs. Harold demanded to know what I was looking at. I returned my gaze to her and zoned out, not bothering to listen to her mindless lecture. Of course, my ears tuned right in when she said the magic words.

"- AND NONE OF THAT IPOD THING FOR 3 MONTHS!"

I gaped at her, my mind trying to wrap around that portion of a sentence. We demigods weren't able to use much technology, so my Ipod was quite special. I had stolen cash from hastily buried corpses for months to get enough to buy it. It was my baby, my connection to the world outside of Greek Mythology.

Mrs. Holt reached into my pocket and swiped it away, she turned on her heel and disapeared upstairs. I mourned for my baby in silence.

xxxXXXxxx

I was happily dreaming about McDonalds when a quiet creak reached my ears. I opened my eyes, which almost immediately adjusted to the dark. A tiny figure stood in the door way, biting her lip nervously. I yawned and sat up.

" 'as up, Hope?"

She scooted closer, her dark hair a wild mess. She was biting her lip nervously, her small form quivering. She mumbled something I couldn't decifer.

" Your'e gonna have to speak up, kid."

She flushed and started twisting her hands.

" I- I los-st Mr. Buttons!", she whispered to me urgently. I raised a dark eyebrow.

" Mr. Buttons?"

" My teddy! I can't sleep without him! He _hates _being alone! I have to find him!"

I sighed upon seeing the little girls distress. Why did she come to me? I thought about it for a second and realized she had probably come for Zane or Peter, I had just saw her first.

" You need help finding the bear thing?", I said tiredly.

" YES!", Hope whisper-yelled.

I sighed and stood up, bracing myself for a long night.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Sorry it took me so long. I've been babysitting my 8 cousins for the past month or so at my Grandparents, and they don't have internet..or cable. *sigh* It's been a long couple of weeks. ****Also, sorry it's kinda short, but I promise it picks up after this chapter. Any who, here it is!**

We followed the dark hallways, being ninja-silent. Hope had no idea where she had last had Mr. Buttons, so we were doing a full sweep of the house. A low rumble echoed across the hall, and Hope jumped. I smirked as cool air blew into my face, tossing my hair around.

" It's just the air conditioner."

Hope nodded, embarrassed, and paced behind me. We turned into one of the many shadowy doorways. Moonlight flooded through the only window, causing a deathly gleam to shine across a bear's fangs. Yellow eyes glared at me from across the room, the owner of them tensed to pounce. I tapped a racoon's ear, wrinkling my nose.

" You had to dust these creepers?"

" Yeah, Zane and I both. We always do."

I went farther into the room, gazing at each taxidermy piece. I was the son of a death god, and even I found stuffing dead animals and keeping them as decoration slightly disturbing. I much prefered the demigod way, slice and dust.

I bent down, looking under the couches. Hope quietly went around the room, scanning every nook and cranny for her beloved teddy. We both spent at least ten minutes searching around. It was slightly irritating when we came up with nothing.

" Alright Hope, this isn't working. You go check downstairs, I'll keep looking upstairs."

She nodded once and left the room, still searching for Mr. Buttons. I exited and turned into the next room, barely stifling a snicker at what I saw.

Mrs. Harold's face was covered in green goo, her face clear of her typical drawn on eyebrows. She looked like an alien from Star Wars. Well, from what I remembered of Star Wars anyway. Mr. Harold was barely on the edge of the bed, with Mrs. Harold's foot jammed into his gut. He did not look comfortable. I entered the room, remembering seeing _Organize my drawers_ on Hope's chore list, and went to the closest dresser, opening the top drawer and barely resisting the urge to gag.

Pink laced bras, granny panties, and, worse of all, a santa outfit clearly meant for play time. I was about to close it when a gleaming button caught my eye. Moving the lingerie with my pinkie , a dirty little bear emerged, its navy bow-tie caught on the santa outfit. I grabbed Mr. Buttons and slammed the drawer shut, blocking the horrendous sights. A gurgled snore drifted from across the room.

Oops.

I scanned the room, and jumped under the bed speedily, Mr. Button's held tightly. Wedged between shoe boxes and an ironing board, I heard the shifting of the mattress above me, and a dreary yawn.

" What the..."

Wrinkly feet smashed to the carpet right in front of my face, and my nose twitched at the nasty grandma smell. The feet moved to the drawers, and I saw that the santa outfit had jammed between the drawer and the dresser.

" Stupid kids...can't ever do a job right.", Mrs. Harold drawled. She placed the outfit back into the drawer and shut it firmly. The bed creaked above my head as she laid back down. Now, all I had to do was wait for her to fall asleep.

_1 hour later..._

I was pissed. Very, _very,_ pissed.

Did old people always get up 50 times in the night?

Every time, I was about to make my speedy exit, Mr. Harold would get up for a glass of water or Mrs. Harold would have to pee for 20 minutes or they would watch TV for five minutes and then lay back down. The gods had to have been laughing at me. My legs were cramping, my eyes were drooping, my nose was full of dust bunnies, and I wanted out of this old people prison.

My ADHD was kicking in, my fingers silently tapping against each other. Demigods weren't meant to be this still for this long. My neck twinged in pain,and I pulled Mr. Button's to my face, using him as a pillow to give my neck a break.

I couldn't shadow travel out of here, I didn't know where Hope was, and poofing in front of Peter or Zane was not highly desirable. They didn't need to know about my family tree just yet. It was safer for them not to know. I closed my eyes as feet stepped in front of my face, _again._

Keeping them closed, I sighed inwardly at my predicament. This was all Mr. Buttons' fault.

xxxXXXxxx

" OH MY GOD! YOU LITTLE CREEP!"

I started awake and promptly banged my head on the bottom of the mattress. Ah, Hades. Another angry screech sounded and I looked at my feet, which were sticking out from under the bed. Well...I guess sleeping in a cramped position didn't exactly please my growing body. I groaned and stuffed Mr. Freaking Buttons in my waistband, and pulled my dark shirt over it.

It was still all the bear's fault.

Crawling out from under the bed, I braced myself for the screaming match that was about to go down. I hadn't been yelled at by Mr. Harold yet, so this was going to be a learning experience.

" YOU...YOU SCOUNDREL! YOU WERE THE ONE SNEAKING A LOOK AT MY UNDERTHINGS! I AM SO DISGUSTED WITH YOU!"

Spit flew in my face , and I wiped it off with my sleeve, mentally vomiting at the thought of anybody willingly looking at Mrs. Harold's' underthings.

" YOU ARE GOING TO BE IN SOOOOO MUCH TROUBLE, YOUNG MAN! YOU HAVE NO IDEA!"

I was slightly surprised that Mr. Harold hadn't said anything yet. Oh well, if I had a wife like Mrs. Harold, I wouldn't talk much either. Successfully tuning Mrs. Harold out, I thought of Taco Bell and Panda Express. Who knew Mexican and Chinese food on the go could be so delicious? It was an absolute life saver for us lonely, good food deprived demigods. After fighting a hoard of giants, nothing filled you up like a whopping pile of Orange Chicken.

"-IN THE CORNER! FOR HOURS! AND THAT'S IF YOUR LUCKY!"

And Mexican Pizzas, yum- wait, did she just say ' corner'? Wasn't I above that by now? My eyes widened and I stared at Mrs. Harold. Dad, help me.

" OH YOU HEARD ME RIGHT! NOSE IN THE CORNER!"

My beautiful nose couldn't deal with that. Hades, with my ADHD, I couldn't stand in the same place for hours.. Mrs. Harold grabbed my ear, and yanked me down the stairs, and put me right in the corner next to the chore chart. Where everyone could see me.

" IF I CATCH YOU MOVING, YOU ARE GOING TO STAY IN THERE EVEN LONGER!", she snarled as she went back up the stairs. My cheeks burned. I hadn't been forced in a corner since Bianca, and even then, it had been a half-hearted attempt and she had immediately crumbled when I turned my puppy eyes on her. Some how, I didn't think puppy eyes would work on Mrs. Harold.

Softer footsteps sounded on the stairs, and I turned my eyes to see Hope's wild mass of hair floating towards me.

" What happened?"

" I got caught in the Harold's room while I was getting someone out of there."

Her eyes light up joyously as I took Mr. Button's out. She hugged the bear tightly, and danced around happily.

" I missed you sooo much Mr. Buttons! You have to promise never to run away again!"

I shook my head in my corner. The bear didn't deserve such loyalty. Tiny arms hugged my waist, and my cheeks burned even more at Hope's thankful embrace.

" Thank you, Nico! You are so awesome!", she mumbled into my shirt, giving me a quick squeeze and then running off back up stairs.

Maybe rescuing the bear had been worth it.


End file.
